A few months ago, I wrote an article about keeping high functioning cognition as you age. The gist of that article was that regular exercise tends to preserve cognition better than a lifestyle that includes little physical exertion. This raises a question:
Why does exercise seem to preserve brain function? What’s the connection between the body and the brain? A recent study conducted by researchers at Iowa State University sheds some light on this question. The researchers, under the direction of Professor Auriel Willette, analyzed data on over 4,000 subjects that had been taken by the UK Biobank study. The subjects, with an average age of 65, were tested at the start of the study and at intervals thereafter for a kind of cognitive function called fluid intelligence, over the course of six years. At the start they were all deemed to have normal fluid intelligence. In addition to cognitive function, they were also tested for lean muscle mass, visceral adipose mass, and non-visceral adipose mass. Visceral adipose mass is more commonly called belly fat. Non-visceral adipose mass is the rest of the fat in your body, such as the fat under your skin (subcutaneous fat) and the fat in your lower body.
Fluid intelligence is the ability to solve novel reasoning problems that do not depend on prior knowledge. It generally peaks at about age 20 and declines gradually from there.
According to the Iowa State study, a person’s lean muscle mass, visceral adipose mass, and non-visceral adipose mass all affect his or her fluid intelligence. Furthermore, people’s age affects their lean muscle mass, visceral adipose mass, and non-visceral adipose mass, although the relationship is not a simple one. Firstly, one must distinguish between chronological age and biological age.
A person’s chronological age is the amount of time that has passed since they were born. Biological age is different. Some people show the symptoms and infirmities of aging before other people do. They look, feel, and act older than others with the same chronological age. As a person’s biological age increases, they tend to gain weight, and they tend to gain it as fat around the midriff, belly fat. Similarly, as biological age increases, people tend to lose lean muscle mass. These changes do more than just reduce mobility and strength. They also affect the immune system.
The ratio of lean muscle mass to visceral adipose mass affects the proportions of immune cells in the blood. Blood tests taken throughout the study showed that increased visceral adipose mass combined with decreased lean muscle mass correlated with a decrease in fluid intelligence, particularly among women, who typically do not have as much lean muscle mass as men have, to begin with. Regardless of gender, a regular exercise regimen can help maintain lean muscle mass as well as reduce abdominal fat.
It turns out that maintaining a regular exercise program works to do more than just help you keep your body healthy. It can also alter your blood chemistry to keep your immune system under control so that it does not cause inflammation that interferes with your ability to think clearly and creatively.
Bio:
Allen G. Taylor is a 30-year veteran of the computer industry and the author of over 30 books, including Develop Microsoft HoloLens Apps Now, Get Fit with Apple Watch, Cruise for Free, SQL For Dummies, 8th Edition, Crystal Reports 2008 For Dummies, Database Development For Dummies, Access Power Programming with VBA, and SQL All-In-One For Dummies, Second Edition. He lectures internationally on astronomy, databases, innovation, and entrepreneurship. He also teaches database development and Crystal Reports through a leading online education provider. For the latest news on Allen’s activities, check out his blog at www.allengtaylor.com or contact him at allen.taylor@ieee.org.